Knowing is Half the Battle
by Green Dragon 3000
Summary: OT story based on Pokemon Crystal. Growing up, Jack Silver was never really into Pokemon. So when the time comes that he decides to become a trainer, how will he fare against people so much more experienced than him? Ch 4 Back to school and into battle!
1. An Adventure Awakens

Disclaimer I do not own Pokemon or any of its characters.

Profile

Name: Jack Silver

Hair colour: Black, parted at the front.

Eye colour: Brown.

Height: 6'2''

Normal clothing: White trainers, blue or black jeans, white T-shirt, green jacket (long or short sleeve, depending on the weather) red and black backpack.

An Adventure Awakens

My name is Jack. Jack Silver. This is my story of how I became a Pokemon trainer. What you have to understand first is growing up, I was kind of a loner. I still am in some ways. So when other kids were talking about Pokemon, and who was battling who at the Indigo Plateau all the way over in Kanto, I didn't care. I didn't pay it any attention. I just….wasn't really interested I guess. So looking back, I guess that put me at a disadvantage when I frist started my training. So you may be asking if I don't care for Pokemon, why did I become a trainer?

Well, good question. I wish I could give just as good an answer. I guess…..the real reason was I wanted to travel. I'd lived in New Bark Town all my life and by the age of 16, I was getting a little tired of the place. But Johto is a dangerous place you see. Well I guess Kanto and Hoenn are too, but I've never been to either region. Without tranportation or a Pokemon of your own, walking around outside a town or a village can be close to life threatening. Wild Pokemon attack strangers, fearing for their young, their territory or just to prove themselves. The only way one can safely travel is to either train Pokemon yourself for protection or to own some kind of vehicle. And I didn't have the money for a vehicle.

Now don't get me wrong, I didn't hate Pokemon. I didn't dislike them even a little bit. Maybe when I was really young, I thought it was a fad that would pass. And by the time I was older and it was still going strong……..well all the other kids would know more than me so there wasn't much point in trying to get into it then. So I never saw becoming a trainer simply as my ticket to get out of New Bark Town. I was sure it would be fun to be a trainer, I was just also sure I'd be owned by every other trainer out there.

I talked it over with my parents. As you'd expect, there were reluctant to let me go. My mother more so. My father, though worried, thought this might help me be more 'outgoing' as he likes to call it……..sure.. They agreed in the end. But obviously, they didn't want me to rush into it. They agreed to let me go after New Year's was over. That way I'd get to spend one last holiday with them. Sheesh, talk about making leaving home more difficult than it already is…..

* * *

So, on the 15th of January, I woke up early. 6 am. See I like getting up early. Only thing is, I…….suck at it. Of course, special occasions are a different matter. But early as I was, by the time my parents were done with our 'last breakfast together', it was 7:30.

"Be careful out there Jack." my Dad said. "The world can be a tough place. If you run into trouble, you can always come home. We'll be here."

"I know Dad." I replied. "Thanks." I hugged him and turned to Mum. This could take a while. After she had sufficiently cracked every one of my ribs, she kissed my cheek and straightened my hair.

"Oh before I forget, your Poke Gear is back from the shop." she placed a small silver watch in my hand. "The house number is already registered. Don't forget to set the date." I nodded and strapped the Gear to my left wrist.

* * *

Half an hour of soppy goodbyes later(I hate to sound unkind, but I thought you might want to be spared the details), I headed on over to Professor Elm's laboratory. This was where I would get my Trainer card and my first Pokemon. I had to admit, I was a little excited. As I approached the lab, I noticed a boy about my age, maybe a little older, with red hair. He was peering in at the window. He saw me and gave me a nasty look. Call me a coward, but I hurried straight in. Well actually, _don't_ call me a coward, just……..y'know, because.

Prof Elm met me. He was a tall man with brown spikey hair and glasses. He was the leading expert on Pokemon evolution, one of the few things about Pokemon that interested me at the time.

"Welcome Jack, nice to see you." he said. As much of a loner as I was, in a town as small as this, it was hard not to know everyone. That's why at the time, I still couldn't shake the thought of that red haired boy. I'd never seen him before. "So, you ready to choose your first Pokemon?"

"Yes, yes I am." I said nervously. I……get a little shy….sometimes….

"Well step right this way. I had three Pokemon to choose from, all very rare. However, another trainer arrived earlier and has already chosen one of them. So you only have two choices left." Damn, someone was earlier than me? Why did Mum have to draw out the goodbye? He gestured to a table with two Pokeballs on it.

"The three choices were Chikorita, the grass Pokemon, Cyndaquil, the fire Pokemon and Totodile, the water Pokemon. The other trainer chose the Chikorita. So, which of the remaining two would you like?"

Well that was easy enough. I'd always had an appreciation for fire and to be honest, I've never been too fond of the water.

"I'll take the Cyndaquil." I said. Prof Elm nodded, handing me one of the Pokeballs and my new Trainer card.

"A good choice." he said. "Listen, before you go, there's favour I'd like to ask you."

"Oh?"

"I have a friend called…..Mr………Mr Pokemon."

"Mr………Pokemon?" That….wasn't right.

"Well………..yes. That's not his real name, he had it changed………legally….."

"Oh………..kay then."

"As you can probably guess, he's something of a fanatic when it comes to Pokemon. Anyway, he's always raving about discoveries he's made, only this time he says it's real."

"_I bet he says that everytime."_ I thought.

"I would go along and see, only I have to wait to hand out this Totodile to the last trainer and I have no idea when he is meant to turn up. So I was wondering if you could go instead? If the trainer shows up quickly I can call you back on your Poke Gear."

As he said this, he snatched it from my wrist and entered his number.

"Well….I guess I could do that…"

"Thank you, thank you very much! He lives just north of Cherrygrove city, it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Okay, I'll be back soon." I said. On the way out, one of the Prof's aides gave me a potion in case Cyndaquil got hurt. Luckily, I knew the way to Cherrygrove, having gone with Mum a number of times for shopping. Only thing is, we'd always taken the car. God knows how long it'd take by foot.

Still, I decided it was time to take a look at my Pokemon.. I took the Pokeball from my belt and pressed the button on the front. It opened and a flash of white light spewed out and landed on the ground. It reshaped into a sort of mouse shape and faded into black and yellow. This was it. My Cyndaquil.

"Cynda! Cyandaquil quil!" the little Pokemon chirped. It had four red spots on its back. I crouched down and looked at it.

"Hey there." I said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. "So…um……score any…..hot lady Cyndaquil lately?" Cyndaquil just looked at me confused. Then I realised. What gender was this thing? Gathering the little mouse up in my arms, I ran back inside the lab. Prof Elm looked up in surprise.

"Not back already?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, no, I was just….wondering something."

"Yes?"

"Um….what gender is this Cyndaquil? I…can't tell." Prof Elm laughed, though not unkindly.

"That Cyndaquil is a female Jack."

"Oh." I said, looking down at it….her. "Um….sorry about that lady Cyndaquil comment…..I uh…..wasn't trying to….imply anything or……" She just chirped her name again. I swear to God she was laughing. She reached up and started licking my face… She certainly was affectionate. I rubbed her head and returned her to the Pokeball. It was time to get out there and do it! I know, that sounded lame….

* * *

It was a strange thing. Leaving New Bark Town I mean. I mean sure, I'd left it before by car, but never on foot. It felt strange to be out here. Almost…..lonely…..in a way. That was weird. I'd never felt lonely before… Wanting companionship for the first time since……….ever……….I guess…..I called Cyndaquil out again. She chirped again and gambolled around my feet. Cute as it may have looked,she kept tripping me up. And everytime she did she laughed.

After a while, I noticed the grass was getting thicker. And it was rustling, which was surprising seeing as there wasn't any wind….. A moment later, without warning,a small purple rat jumped out of the grass and lunged at me. In a flash, Cyndaquil jumped up and tackled it out of the way. I knew that this was a Rattata. We'd often had problems with them coming into the town and stealing food on market days.

"_Guess it's time for my first battle."_ I thought to myself. "Cyndaquil! Tackle it!" She charged at Rattata and slammed into it, full force. The Rattata went flying back and hit a tree. "Hit it again, quick!" One more hit and the tiny rat was knocked out cold. I picked it up and hid it in the grass. Didn't want some car running it over by accident. As I stood up, it dawned on me. I had just battled another pokemon for the very first time ever. Okay, so may it wasn't that dramatic, but come on, I was a newbie.

It certainly wasn't my last. The path to Cherrygrove was full of wild Pokemon. Rattatas, Sentrets and Pidgeys were attacking me constantly. Cyndaquil proved herself to be very strong. After one fight, I swear she grew just a tiny bit bigger. I would later come to learn that this meant she had leveled up. There were a few people around but none of them challenged me to battle. I wish I could say something more exciting happened here, but I'd be making it up. Of course, if you _want_ me to make it up I could always tell you about how a Lugia and a Ho-oh flew down out of the sky and……nah, gonna stick to the truth.

* * *

By the time I reached Cherrygrove, I was tired and hungry, but according to my Poke Gear it wasn't even 8:30 yet. I decided that meant Prof Elm could wait at least for a little while before I returned. Before heading to the Pokemon Center, I returned Cyndaquil to her Pokeball. Prof Elm said she was a rare Pokemon, and I didn't want to risk someone snatching her and running off.

As I apporached the Pokemon Center, an old man came up to me. He took one look at the Pokeball on my belt and his lips peeled back into a friendly smile.

"Aha, a rookie trainer are we?" he asked. That may be true, but he didn't have to _say_ it…. "Not to worry, everyone is a rookie at first." I guess he must have seen the offended look on my face. "I could give you a few tips if you'd like."

"Oh…um…alright, that's very…..nice, thank you." That's very nice. Yes, that's what I came up with. Well nevermind. I _was_ a rookie and I really did need all the help I could get. So he put his hand on my shoulder and lead me towards the Pokemon Center.

"This is a Pokemon Center." he said. "Now, you probably have heard of them." Well….yeah. "They heal your Pokemon for free." For free? Never knew that, that was good news! "You can also trade Pokemon here and deposit or withdraw them on the PC." Also very good info, I really shoulda been writing this down.

Next, he took me along to another building, similar in design, but it said 'Pokemart' on the side.

"This is a Pokemon Market." he explained. "It's like any shop really, only it sells items for trainers, such as potions, Pokeballs, Pokemon food and so on." So _that's_ what they sold there, always wondered that. He pulled me along again and pointed to a road leading out of the town.

"That is Route 30. This leads up to Violet City and beyond. Mr Pokemon's house is on the way." Bingo!

"Mr Pokemon…" I couldn't help but laugh. Why someone would change their name to Mr Pokemon….. The old man laughed too and led me further on. We stopped by the Cherrygrove lake. On the small rock in the middle, there was a man fishing.

"That man there is fishing for water Pokemon. Some Pokemon can only be found in the water." Oh great, this didn't mean swimming, did it? He led me on again to a small cottage."

"And this, this is my house. Well that's all the things a budding trainer needs to see." I shook his hand.

"Thank you, I never knew Pokemon Centers healed for free."

"Not a problem my boy." he glanced at my wrist. "I see you have a Poke Gear. You could probably do with this." He handed me a small card, just a little smaller than the face of my Gear. "That is a map card, insert it into your PokeGear and it will display a map of the region you are in. You can use it to find your way around."

"Wow! Thank you sir!" I have to admit, that was pretty damned cool. After the old man went inside his house, I inserted the card. A new optioncame up on the Gear's menu screen. I selected it and a 2-D hologram of a map of Johto flashed up. The pathways were marked in yellow and the cities were red circles. My position was indicated by a black reticle. I pressed the red circle the reticule was highlighting and the words came up 'Cherrygrove City'. I pused the next circle along and it said 'Violet City'. Man this was cool!

* * *

Anyway, I headed over to the Pokemart. Inside, it was a nice little place. It was a branch store, but it had a nice cosy feel about it. I checked around the shop, noticing all the items had little labels, explaining what they did. That was handy. I bought a few potions. 200 credits each isn't a lot of money, but I didn't have much on me. There were other items, such as 'parlyz heal', but I didn't want to stretch my money too thin. I was also confused to see that their were no Pokeballs. When I took the potions to the counter, the man explained that they were out of stock..

"_Damn"_ I thought. _"Guess I'll have to wait before building up an actual team."_ Still, couldn't be helped. I left Cherrygrove and began my journey northwards……um….north, I mean north.

Checking my map to make sure I was heading the right way, I didn't notice a group of people up ahead until A loud, high pitched squeak came out from below me. I jumped back in surprise to see I had trodden on the tail of a Rattata. It was looking at me indignantly as its trainer scooped it into his arms.

"You mind?" he asked, kind of rudely…….though I can understand, given I had just stepped on his Pokemon…. "We're about to have a battle here!"

"Sorry, I….didn't see you." 16 years of being a loner can make one a little shy around others.

"Maybe you ought to get a Hoothoot to be your guide Pokemon!" said one of the girls. Call me overly sensitive, but it did hurt when they all started laughing. I know a tougher person would have challenged them to a Pokemon battle, but me, I just walked away.

* * *

To cheer myself up, and give myself some more 'civilised' company, I called Cyndaquil out again. I fed her a few berries I had picked from some trees along the way and she trotted along happily beside me, chirping a little tune to herself.

Before we were ready, a brown worm Pokemon jumped out at us and butted Cyndaquil with its horn. I knew this was a Weedle, we had had an infestation of them a few months ago. I ordered Cyndaquil to attack, but the sneaky Weedle hit her with a Stringshot attack, pormptly trapping her. It then fired a purple needle from its horn, hitting Cyndaquil square on. She screeched in pain and I swear even to this day, she developed just a slight purple tinge.

"Hold on Cyndaquil!" I yelled. I had no idea how to get rid of this Weedle! I could have attacked it myself, but wouldn't that be Pokemon crueltly? Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"Charizard! Flamethrower!" I snapped my head around to see a middle aged man standing next to a large orange winged dragon. That thing was huge! Well……compared to all the other Pokemon I'd seen….The dragon, who I guess was Charizard, opened its mouth and a long stream of fire spewed out, hitting the Weedle dead on. With the Weedle knocked out, I gathered Cyndaquil up in my arms.

"Thank you!" I said to the old man. "I know I should have been able to deal witht hat muyself, but I just started you see and-"

"Oh, so you must be Jack then." he said, cutting me off. "Prof Elm told me he had already given away two of his starters. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is-"

"Look, I hate to be rude, but I think something's wrong with my-"

"With your Cyndaquil? Yes, it's been poisoned." I looked down at her in shock. Poisoned? What the hell was I supposed to do? "Not to worry." he said gently. "I have a Full Heal right here." He took Cyndaquil from my arms and pulled a bottle from his pocket. He pointing the nozzle at her and sprayed the fliud lightly over her. The purple tinge faded and she chirped weakly at him.

"Is she-"

"She'll be fine. Though she is still weak from the battle and I don't have the means the help her here."

"Oh…."

"But my friend, Mr Pokemon does. He lives just around the corner. I had just left, but I'm sure he won't mind if I ask him a small favour."

"Thank you, thank you very much." Saved from the Weedle, Cyndaquil put right, shown the way to Mr Pokemon's house…..everything was coming up Jack!

"Now then." the man said, as he called his Charizard back. "Once again, allow me to introduce myself. My name, is Professor Oak. And am I correct in assuming that you are Jack Silver?" I nodded, shaking his hand and we walked on together.

"So……..Mr Pokemon, huh?"

"Yes…….he had his name legally changed."

"So I've heard."

* * *

Two mintues later, we arrived at a small cottage. Prof Oak went up and knocked on the door. A short man in a suit answered.

"Sam?" he asked. "Leave something behind?"

"No, no." Prof Oak replied. "This young boy's Cyndaquil was hurt in a fight. I was able to heal her a little, but I'm short on Full Restores, I was just hoping we might be able to borrow your healing machine."

"Not at all Sam, not at all. A Cyndaquil, eh? Rare Pokemon that one. Very rare." He looked at me. "So you're the trainer. What might your name be?"

"I'm Jack Silver." I said. "Prof Elm gave me that Cyndaquil this morning and asked to come and see you. He said you had something to show him, but he couldn't come himself."

"Couldn't come eh?" he muttered, taking Cyndaquil from Prof Oak. "More likely he just thinks it's not worth the trouble."

"I'm sure he will think differently when Jack delivers it." Oak replied. "Now, I really must get going. But before I do, Jack, there's something you should have." he pulled what looked like a red palmtop from his pocket and handed it to me. "Now that, is a Pokedex. A little invention I've worked on. When you see a Pokemon you are unfamiliar with, this will tell you its name. It will show information on any Pokemon you have captured. For example." He opend the Pokedex and tapped a few buttons. Then he showed me the screen. It was displaying information about Cyndaquil.

"Wow! Thank you sir!" He smiled and left. I turned to Mr Pokemon who had placed Cyndaquil on a healing machine. He then turned to me.

"Now then. It's time to show you what I'd like you to take back to Prof Elm." he walked over to a cupboard and opened it. From it, he pulled out something wrapped in a towel. He came back and placed it on the table. He removed the towel to reveal an egg underneath. "Know what this is?"

"I……don't."

"I'm not sure myself. But I have a feeling this has something to do with Pokemon. As Prof Elm is the leading expert on Pokemon evolution, I believe he is most qualified to examine it. Will you take it back?"

"Of course. Just….how fragile is it?"

"Surprisingly tough. But still………I'd take care if I were you." He handed it to me and I gently slid it into my backpack. I was intrigued…but it was hard to be excited when I had almost no idea what this egg meant. Anyway, once Cyndaquil was healed, he returned her to me and I called her back into the Pokeball. I bade him goodbye and left the cottage. I hadn't gone very far when My PokeGear started to ring. Looking at my watch, I could see it was from Prof Elm.

"_If he's calling to say that he's on his way, I swear I'm gonna stick this egg right up his-"_ but before I could finish that thought, his voice came through the Gear.

"Jack! Forget about Mr Pokemon, we have a problem here!"

"Professor? What's going on?" In the background, I could hear something that sounded like glass breaking.

"Just get back here NOW!" Then the line went dead.

"_The…hell?"_ Carefully slinging my bag on to my back, I started to run, heading back in the direction Cherrygrove. Whatever the problem was, it sounded very bad…

* * *

By the time I reached Cherrygrove, I had a sinking feeling. Whatever the problem was, he had needed me right away. Whatever it was, there was no way I'd get there in time. Heading for the road that led back to New Bark Town, I collided into someone, as I fell, I hard to sort of twist around, making sure not to fall on the egg. Grazed my hands doing it. Hurt. Like. Hell.

"Who the hell are you?" I looked up to see the person I crashed into was a boy with long red hair. Why did he look so famili…….the boy standing outside Prof Elm's lab! It was him! I stood up, gingerly dusting my hands off.

"I'm Jack. And who might you be?"

"Jack eh? So you're the weakling the professor gave the Cyndaquil to." Oh that just hurt. "Well I too have a Pokemon and it's a lot stronger than yours!" ………..so?

"How do you know my name?" He didn't answer. He took out a Pokeball and threw it in the air. A flash of light later, and a small blue crocodile….thing…..was standing there. I checked my Pokedex. It was a Totodile. Where had I heard that name before?

"Battle me and I'll tell you who I am." he said. Shrugging, I released Cyndaquil to fight. Bystanders gathered round, ready to watch an entertaining battle.

"Cyndaquil, tackle!" I ordered. She nodded and ran at the Totodile. The boy smirked.

"Totodile! Water gun!" The Totodile opened its mouth and a jet of water fired out, hitting Cyndaquil hard. I looked at my Podkedex to check her health. It had dropped down to less than a quarter! I was in trouble…

"Now, water gun again!" The blue brat fired again and Cyndaquil was knocked out cold. Yep. Not only had I lost my first battle, I hadn't even been able to put up a good fight. I'd been totally owned.

"Cyndaquil!" I called. I ran over to her and picked her up gently.

"Hah!" the boy laughed, calling back his Totodile. "I knew you were weak. You should spend more time training and less time worrying over how happy your little mouse is. My name's Eric. Remember that when you hear about the next Pokemon Champion." And with that, he walked off, making sure to kick me in the head as he went by. Son of a….

TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. En Route to Violet City

En Route to Violet City

After Eric left, the crowd began to leave too. I wasn't sure what to do now. Prof Elm needed me. But Cyndaquil was hurt. What was the right thing to do? Get to the Prof right away or head to the Pokemon Center? I mean Cyndaquil was already unconscious, so she wasn't suffering….as far as I knew. But then Prof Elm had said it was urgent and between getting this far and the battle with Eric, I had wasted so much time already, I probably couldn't be of any help anyway….

In the end, it just felt wrong to leave Cyndaquil the way she was. I summoned her back into her Pokeball and ran toward the Pokemon Center. Inside I stepped up to the counter. The nurse was just handing a Spearow over to a girl. The girl turned to me.

"I saw you in that battle." she said. Great, already I was famous. "You really did suck!" Such a pretty face too….

"Can I help you?" The nurse interrupted our _lovely_ little chat. I turned to her and put Cyndaquil's Pokeball on the counter.

"My-" Before I could finish, the brat-I mean girl, cut me off.

"His Cyndaquil was beaten up in a match. The idiot sent it out against a Totodile." Oh that was enough. I turned and looked her in the face.

"Firstly, it's 'her', not 'it'. Secondly, She's the only Pokemon I have, so excuse **me** for not coming up with a better choice!" she just laughed and walked off. Bitch…. Anyways, I turned to the nurse, who was giving me a very disapproving look and asked her, politely, to heal Cyndaquil. What is with all these women? Is the 'time of the month' on the same day for all of them?

* * *

Anyway, I walked out of there and guess who I ran into? That girl with the Spearow! Already I was starting to miss New Bark Town…

"What do you want?" I asked. She took a Pokeball from her belt.

"A battle." she said. "You suck with the elemental disadvantage, let's see how you do with the elemental advantage." she released a small green four legged Pokemon that had a leaf on its head. I checked my Pokedex. It was a Chikorita. Like the Totodile, there was something familiar about the name. Anyways, I looked at her. She looked about my age. She was pretty good looking, much as I hate admit it. She had such a great pair of…..eyes…..yeah……trying to be sensitive here…. She had brown hair that came to just below her shoulders and blue eyes. She was wearing blue jeans, a pink long sleeved top and a white short sleeved jacket over that. She had a yellow backpack on her back.

"Look, I don't have time to fight." I said, walking towards the gates.

"What's up, you scared?" she called. I turned back.

"Um…..yes?" she gave me a look. "Besides, I seriously do have to get going, Prof Elm is in trouble." Her eyes widened.

"Prof Elm? What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I…..how **you** know Prof Elm?" Now maybe it was stupid of me to say Prof Elm was in trouble if I didn't think this bitch-I mean girl didn't know him, but I wasn't really thinking straight….

"He gave me my Chikorita this morning." she said. **That's** why it was so familiar! Chikorita was one of the starters. "I'm Alyssa." she said. "If Prof Elm is in trouble, I want to help." I'll admit I was in two minds right now. I mean why would I want to spend any more time with this bitch-I mean girl? On the other hand, if I was still in time, I would need all the help I could get. I wonder if life hates me as much as I hate it.

"Alright, come on then!" I said. "We have to move fast, it seems urgent."

"Won't be a problem." she said, fishing a bottle out of her bag. "This Repel will keep the wild Pokemon away." Great, nothing I like more than feeling inferior to another rookie.

* * *

Anyways, we ran back towards New Bark Town and that repel certainly did the job, because we didn't run into any trouble. A few trainers wanted to challenge us and even though Alyssa wanted to accept them, I had to remind her that there wasn't time. A few trainers didn't take that well and called us cowards. She was more insulted than me.

At last, we came into New Bark Town. There was a police car outside Prof Elm's house. That didn't look good. We rushed inside to see a policeman talking to Prof Elm.

"What's going on here?" Alyssa asked. She was certainly more forward than me. The policeman turned to us.

"Huh? I don't have time to talk to kids; I'm investigating a robbery here." I swear Alyssa looked like she was gonna kick him in the nuts. Prof Elm walked over to us.

"It's alright Officer, I know both of these trainers." he then turned to us. "That last Pokemon I was supposed to give out, the Totodile was stolen by a boy with long red hair. He escaped before I could stop him." He gestured to a broken window. Something clicked in my head. Boy with red hair. Totodile. Complete and utter bastard.

"I battled a trainer like that!" I said. The officer turned to me.

"You did?"

"Well he didn't win." was Alyssa's 'helpful' contribution…

"You battled him. Did you get his name?" the officer asked.

"Yeah, he said he was called Eric."

"Eric. And last name?" Ah…..there was the snag.

"I…didn't catch his last name." The officer look disappointed.

"I see. Well thank you for your information. I'll be heading back to the station now." And with that, he was gone. Prof Elm turned to me, mopping his brow.

"Oh this is….terrible. If that Pokemon isn't recovered soon, it'll become evil, like its trainer." He sat down and put his hand over his eyes. I really did feel sorry for him now. He looked at me again. "But enough of that. Did you find out what Mr Pokemon's discovery was?" Oh yeah, that.

"He gave me this." I said, placing the egg on the table. Prof Elm jumped up in surprise.

"What? Is this…a Pokemon egg? Does this mean Pokemon come from eggs? No wait, maybe not all of them, maybe…it depends on their type or…Jack, this is an incredible breakthrough in Pokemon biology! Thank you for bringing me this!" And with that, he strode away into another room. His aide walked up to me.

"He'll be analysing that for hours, so you may as well go. Oh and I heard the Cherrygrove Pokemart was out of stock, so you may want these." He handed me five, count 'em FIVE Pokeballs! Finally I could build up a team! I thanked him and ran out of the lab. But before I could head for the forest, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Alyssa.

"No excuses." she said. "You owe me a battle now."

"Oh come on! You already have at least two Pokemon!" I replied.

"Then we'll make it a one on one." she replied with a smirk. I guess I was being a little defensive, but come on, less than half an hour ago I'd been totally owned by another rookie trainer. Still, a fight's a fight. I called Cyndaquil out and Alyssa called out Chikorita.

"_Remember, she's a newbie too."_ I told myself. _"There's no reason to assume that_

_she's better than you."_ I decided to leave out the fact that she had already successfully captured another Pokemon meant she still had a little more experience than me.

"Okay Chikorita! Growl!" Alyssa ordered. I quickly snapped open my Pokedex to monitor the battle. Chikorita, who turned out to be a female, snarled at Cyndaquil. On the Pokedex, it said her attack power had lowered.

"Cyndaquil, Tackle!" She rushed at Chikorita and slammed into her. But she barely lost any HP at all! Alyssa laughed.

"Chikorita lowers Cyndaquil's attack and you have her use a physical attack?" I ignored her. Looking at my Pokedex, I noticed Cyndquil had two other moves. Had no idea what they did, but there was only one way to find out.

"Cyndaquil! Smokescreen!" She opened her mouth and to my surprise, smoke billowed out, enveloping itself around Chikorita. According to the Pokedex, her accuracy had fallen. Nice!

"Dammit, Chikorita, Tackle attack!" Chikorita rushed at Cyndaquil, but with the smoke in her eyes, she couldn't see and ran headlong into a tree. I would have laughed, but I'd be willing to bet I'd pay for it later.

"Okay Cyndaquil, try Leer!" What did she do? She glared at Chikorita. Yeah, that's right, she glared at her. Just what was the point of that? It paid off though. The Pokedex said her defence had lowered. "Okay, now Tackle again. This attack, plus the damage Chikorita had done to herself by running into the tree was enough to knock her out entirely. I'd done it! I'd won my first ever trainer battle! I rock!

"Okay Chikorita, return." Alyssa called her Pokemon back and looked at me with a smile. I have to admit, she looked nice when she smiled……well, nic_er_…. Anyways, my Pokedex beeped and I looked down. Cyndaquil had learned a new attack. Ember. Sounds cool.

"So….I guess that's that then." I said.

"Yeah it is. Good move back there. Guess I should have seen that coming." she handing some money to me.

"What's this for?"

"For winning the battle."

"Huh? You don't have to-"

"It's the official league rule. Didn't you know that?"

"You wouldn't believe just how much I don't know…" She laughed, but in a mean why like she had before.

"Well I gotta hit the road, see you round Jack!"

"Um…bye…." I watched her as she left. I heard a chirping sound and looked down to see Cyndaquil giving me a coy look. "And just what are **you** looking?" She just laughed. Women…

* * *

As we headed out for Cherrygrove again, I was excited. With Pokeballs now, I finally had the chance to capture new Pokemon. I wondered what I'd get first. A Rattata? A Sentret? A rustling in the grass looked like it'd answer my question. A Pidgey flew out and tried to attack me. Excited I took a Pokeball from my belt and threw it. Now I know what you're thinking, why wasn't I trying to weaken it? Well, I honestly don't want to say. Okay, okay, I'll tell you. I was a total newb at Pokemon right? Well….I didn't actually know that you're supposed to weaken a Pokemon first. Okay, let's get all the laughter over and done with.

So as you've probably guessed, the Pidgey burst out of the ball, breaking its lock, making it useless. Not to be discouraged, I tried again….and again….and then I decided it may be a good idea to conserve my last two Pokeballs. I sent Cyndaquil out to beat it.

"Okay Cyndaquil, Ember!" Time to see what this new move could do! And man was it good! First of all, flames spouted out of the red spots on her back. That alone was cool! Then, she opened her mouth and literally spat a small fireball at the Pidgey. The Pidgey took the hit dead on and fainted. I was relieved to see the flames on Cyndaquil's back die out afterwards. Otherwise god only knows what trouble that could have led to…

* * *

When I arrived at Cherrygrove, I stopped in at the Pokemart to buy some Pokemon food and see if they had any Pokeballs in by chance. They had the food, which I bought, but not the Pokeballs. However, the clerk was nice enough to tell me about how you're supposed to weaken Pokemon **before** you try and capture them. Wanting to see if this was true, I headed out along Route 30. I was worried though. With only two Pokeballs, I didn't have a lot of opportunities to mess up. The first Pokemon I came across was a Weedle. I sent Cyndaquil out but her Ember beat it in one hit and the Pokeball didn't seem to work on a KO'ed enemy. Guess I'd have to be more careful. A little while later, we came across a Caterpie. The Pokedex said it was a male.

"Cyndaquil, Tackle it!" It looked weak, I'll admit, but I didn't care! I needed to get _some_ catching experience! Cyndaquil, understanding that I needed the Caterpie conscious, butted him fairly lightly. His health went down to just under half. Perfect. I took out a Pokeball and threw it. It hit the Caterpie, opened and sucked hit in a flash of red light. I watched carefully. The ball rocked around once….twice….thrice….and then it stopped. I'd done it! My first capture!

"YES! YES! WELL DONE CYNDAQUIL!" I picked her up and hugged her tightly. A little too tightly unfortunately. She squeaked and flames shot out of her back, burning my arms. Needless to say, I dropped her very quickly. "Oops…sorry 'bout that." Cyndaquil just gave me a 'so typical of a man' look and trotted over to Caterpie's Pokeball. Women…

I decided to head back to Cherrygrove and heal Caterpie at the Pokemon Center. No need to use up all my potions just yet. I wondered how Caterpie would fare in battle. Cyndaquil had beaten him easily, the only reason she didn't completely own him was she was holding back. Hopefully, with time and training, he'd toughen up. At least he was a cool colour.

* * *

On the way back, I saw a group of kids gathered around a small pond. They had a group of Pokemon with them, mostly consisting of Rattatas, Weedles, Caterpies and Sentrets.

"Okay Sentret, Tackle!" one small boy commanded. To my surprise, the Sentret dove headfirst into the water! I walked up closer for a better look. It surfaced a few seconds later. "Didja get it Sentret? Didja?" The Sentret shook its head…..or body rather… But I was curious. Exactly what was it trying to get? A girl shoved her way to the front.

"Okay, my turn! Bellsprout, go get that Poliwag!" she threw a Pokeball and released it. I knew what Bellsprouts and Poliwags were. Had no idea that Poliwag lived around here though. The Bellsprout shot its vines down into the water. I guessed that that was where this Poliwag was. It brought its vines up again to reveal nothing. Another girl came to the front.

"So if a Pokemon can't go down there to fight it and they can't pull it up _out_ of the water…how do we get it?" A good question.

"_Come on Jack, think. Think! How do you get a Pokemon to leave the water?"_ No one seemed to have a claim on this Pokemon. Maybe **I** could catch it. Or I could fail and humiliate myself in front of a group of kids half my age….but that's neither here not there…

So just how _do_ you capture a Pokemon if you can't battle it underwater or force it _out_ of the water? Turns out, the answer's very simple. You don't _force_ it out, you _coax_ it out. So, I walked up to the group of kids. Like I said, I get hideously shy, even when dealing with people younger than me. Kids can be cruel… But, I pushed the feeling away and removed my backpack. I took out a package of Pokemon food I had bought from the Pokemart, unwrapped it and laid it by the edge of the pool.

"What are you doing?" one kid asked. They didn't seem like the rude kind of kids, which was a confidence booster to me.

"Just seeing if there's more than one way to get a Poliwag out of the water." I replied. I tore a bit of the food from the main chunk and dropped it in the water. The kids were watching me. It was a little off putting… Anyway, bubbles came up to the surface and I guessed the Poliwag had taken the bait. A moment later, it jumped above land and went for the rest of the food. Now was my chance! With Caterpie still badly hurt, there was no way I was gonna use him in this fight. So I called out Cyndaquil.

"Okay Cyndaquil, Ember!" Cyndaquil's back lit up with fire and she spewed a small fireball at the Poliwag. The Poliwag took it and didn't seem that fazed. I glanced at my Pokedex. It had barely taken a third of damage! This was bad…

"Hey, why are you using fire attacks?" one kid asked. "That **is** a water type y'know!" This was **very** bad… The Poliwag spat out three bubbles directly at Cyndaquil, hitting her square on. Cyndquil took a surprising amount of damage from something that was lower in level, but she was still above half. If she could stand to take one more hit….then I might just survive.

"Cyndaquil, you think you can handle one more hit like that?" The kids around me gasped. Oh ye of little faith… Cyndaquil nodded and braced herself. "Okay Cyndaquil, Tackle it! Hard as you can!" She nodded and ran towards it as fast as possible. She hit it dead on, knocking it back. Poliwag's health dropped down to the red. _"Weird."_ I thought. _"Tackle did more damage."_ Obviously, this was because of Fire's disadvantage against Water, but at the time, I didn't know this. With Poliwag sufficiently damaged, I took a Pokeball from my belt and threw it. It hit the little blue blob and sucked it in. It rattled….rattled….rattled….and finally lay still. Incredible! I'd caught two Pokemon in less than ten minutes! And believe me when I say nothing boosts your ego like a bunch of kids applauding you.

* * *

At the Pokemon Center, I checked my Pokedex to see my new Poliwag's stats while the nurse healed it along with Cyndaquil and Caterpie. He turned out to be male and the bubble attack he used was called Bubble……creative….. Both Poliwag and Caterpie were much lower in level than Cyndaquil, so I knew I'd have to go and train them to level them up.

I headed back to Route 29. It seemed to be where the weakest Pokemon were, plus there were no other trainers around who might come up and demand to battle me. Cyndaquil was already at level 12 and I wanted the other two to match her. But with Caterpie at level 4 and Poliwag at level 5, it was going to take a while.

* * *

It certainly did. Many, many **many** fainted Rattatas, Sentrets and Pidgeys later, Caterpie was up to level 6 and Poliwag was at level 8. The had both been knocked out so many times, that by the time I decided to call it a day and press on to Violet City, it was already twilight. As I walked along the path way, a young boy came up to me.

"Hey." he said. "You look weak." Why that little brat! "How about a Pokemon battle?" I agreed, planning to teach that cocky little…..child….a lesson.

"Go Rattata!" he cried, sending out the infamous purple rat. According to the Pokedex, it was only a level 4, so I felt I had a chance.

"Go Caterpie!" I called. The boy laughed at my little green caterpillar. No that's not a euphemism.

"Hah, you expect to win with a worm?" I smiled.

"I can try." I replied. I was trying to boost Caterpie's confidence more than my own. The poor dude was quivering from the insult.

"Rattata! Tail whip!" Now, Tail whip sounded like a strong attack at first. But that was before I saw the Rattata run over and start tapping its tail on Caterpie's head. Yep. That's what the attack did.

"Caterpie, Tackle!" Caterpie reared back for a moment and then slammed his head into the Rattata full force. The little rat went flying backwards and collapsed. Hah! Sucker! The kid called it back to its ball and ran off crying. Looking back, I sometimes think he did it to get out of paying, but at the time, I doubt I could have felt more guilty if a child in a wheelchair came home to the orphanage to find me robbing the contents of the charity box.

Still, this was pushed from my mind when My Pokedex bleeped. Caterpie had grown another level. But what was weirder was Caterpie himself was spraying himself with his own Stringshot attack.

"Caterpie, what…are you doing?" He didn't answer. The string encased itself around him entirely and grew thicker. I ran to him and tried to pull it off, but it was hardening fast. "Caterpie! Caterpie can you hear me?" Without warning, he began to glow brightly. So brightly I had to squint. Suddenly, this glow changed from white to green. Then, the glow faded all together. I gasped when I saw what was left. Caterpie wasn't there any more. A new Pokemon had taken his place. But I knew what this meant. My Caterpie….has evolved into a Metapod.

Okay, so maybe a Metapod isn't a great step up from a Caterpie, but hey, it was my first evolution.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Jack's Pokemon

(In team)

Cyndaquil

Gender: Female  
Lvl: 12

Attacks: Ember  
Leer

Smokescreen

Tackle

Poliwag  
Gender: Male  
Lvl: 8

Attacks: Bubble

Metapod  
Gender: Male

Lvl: 7

Attacks: Tackle  
Stringshot

Harden

(In storage)

N/A


	3. Battle for the Badge

Battle for the Badge

By the time I'd reached Violet City's gates, it was pitch black and, having woken up so early, I was getting tired. Just as I entered through the doors, thinking how nice it was to be back to civilisation again, my Poke Gear rang. I answered to find out it was my parents.

"Hi Jack!" my mother shrilled. "Just wondering where you are."

"I've just reached Violet City." I replied.

" Violet City?" my dad cut in. "You should check out the Sprout Tower tomorrow. It's a good place for training."

"Right, I'll remember that. Oh by the way, I caught two more Pokemon on the way!" My mother squealed with joy.

"Oh Jack that's wonderful!" As I entered the city, I was sure people were trying hard not to stare in my direction. "What did you get?"

"I got a Cyndaquil for a starter, a Caterpie which evolved this afternoon and a Poliwag."

"A nice round team there son." dad was saying. "You hold on to that Metapod. When it evolves again, it'll be very useful."

"Uh huh."

"And look around for a Ghastly. Oh and maybe a Dunsparce and perhaps-" thankfully, mum cut him off. He gets a little excited about Pokemon. He spent my entire childhood trying to get me interested. From what he said though, it sounded like there were some good Pokemon around here, so I decided to stock up on Pokeballs. Luckily the Pokemart here had some; I bought ten just in case of failed captures.

* * *

First thing I wanted to do was get the team healed, so I headed to the Pokemon Center. The nurse took Cyndaquil and the others and left me to walk around the lobby aimlessly. Aimlessly. Strange word. I wonder who came up with that word. Maybe the person was describing William Tell's latest shot. 'Well Bill, you hit the apple fine, but your shot was a bit aimless, you need to work on that.' Hehehehe. Aimlessly….

All of a sudden, a small boy came rushing in through the doors, holding a small Natu. The Pokemon was unconscious with scratches all over its head….uh….body. The boy himself, his face was white as a sheet.

"I need help!" he yelled, turning every head in the lobby. "My Natu's hurt!" The nurse walked up calmly and took the small bird in her hands.

"Okay, just calm down and tell me what happened Mark." she said. Mark looked close to tears. Had he been attacked by someone? I doubted it, he looked pretty much normal to me.

"Well….I-I was f-f-fighting Falkner and-and…" he buried his face in his hands, unable to say anymore. At the name Falkner, most people in the lobby suddenly adopted knowing looks. Guess the guy must be popular around these parts. The nurse smiled sympathetically.

"Now Mark, I've told you before about fighting Falkner. He's an experienced trainer, you need to wait for a while before you try and take him on. You remember what happened to you Oddish last week, don't you?" Mark nodded.

"I know….I just thought that….since Oddish was a grass type, maybe that….was why I lost. But Natu doesn't have an elemental disadvantage and Mr Earl said that was one of the most important things and-" The nurse held her hand up to stop him rambling.

"It is important yes. But Earl will tell you, elements are only worth considering when your Pokemon are similar in level. Your Oddish was level 3 and this Natu is a level 2. This is why I keep telling you, you need to train more." The boy nodded and went to take a seat. I was intrigued by this Falkner. Sounded tough, but then again, this kid's Pokemon were lower levels than my own. I wondered if maybe I'd have a shot. So I went up to the boy.

"Excuse me." I said, trying to sound as polite and kind as possible. "I couldn't help overhearing you saying something about Falkner?" The boy looked at me warily. Maybe his mother had warned him about strangers. Smart woman.

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm new in town and I was wondering just who is he?" The boy gave me an incredulous look. Don'tcha just hate it when a kid knows more than you?

"Well he's….he's the Violet City Gymleader." The what now?

"The what now?" I asked. He looked at me as if I'd grown two extra arms. That'd be cool. Could make a lot of money. "Come see the amazing freak on nature!" Okay, so maybe that would further damage my already delicate ego…

"You don't know what a Gymleader is?" Of course I do, I just wanted to ask someone so they could make me feel stupid and inferior.

"No I don't." I thought he might be hurt if I answered the other way.

"You….you are a trainer, right?"

"Well yeah. I've only just started though."

"Okay….well see, in every region, there are eight Gyms, all in different towns. Each gym is run by a leader. If you defeat the leader in a Pokemon battle, you win his or her Gym Badge." Right……kind of like a Boy Scout thing. Oooh, what should I get first, the Camping Badge or the First Aid Badge?

"What are these badges for?"

"Well, if you get all eight from one region, you're allowed to compete against that region's Elite 4, in the Pokemon league." Ah, well screw that, I was in this for the travelling, not going around trying to become 'The Best Pokemon Master EVA!' "Mr Earl also says certain badges have special effects on the Pokemon you own."

"Who's Earl?"

"He runs the Pokemon Academy, not far from this Center. Anyway, he told me Falkner gives out the Zephyr Badge to people who beat him. It's supposed to raise the Attack power of all your Pokemon and let you use Flash outside of battle." I had no idea what 'Flash' was, but I liked the idea of boosting my Pokemon's Attack power.

"Where can I find Falkner?"

"In the Violet City Gym."

"Okay, thanks kid." I decided. As soon as my team was healed, I was gonna go out and get me a badge! As I set out, I smelled the evening air. Adventure was not far off…

* * *

Until I found myself back outside the City back on Route 31 that is. They really need to put up some signposts….

Frustrated, I headed back to the gates, only to stop dead when I heard a rustling sound. In retrospect, I should have just ignored it and carried on. But I was worried. Maybe I worry too much. Great, something **else** to worry about. Anyway, as I looked around, a black shape leapt out of the grass. I could barely see, but I knew it was some kind of Pokemon.

"Poliwag, go!" I yelled. The small blue frog appeared in a flash of light and blocked the attack. That flash was enough to light the area up just long enough for me to see that the shape was a Hoothoot. A quick look on the Pokedex said she was female. Level 5. This one seemed worthy of capture.

"Okay Poliwag, Bubble!" He leapt up and fired three bubbles from his mouth. The Hoothoot managed to duck two of them but was hit by the third. I was kinda hoping for more damage though. I thought of switching Pokemon but I wasn't sure. I didn't want to raise Cyndaquil anymore until they were even and Metapod didn't really look like much of a fighter. So I was stuck with Poliwag.

"Waaaag!" My head snapped up to see Poliwag take a Tackle attack right to the spiral. Damn it, that's what I get for thinking too much!

"Poliwag, you okay?" I asked. Poliwag jumped to his feet ad nodded. Though it really looked more like an awkward bow. Two legs and no arms must be difficult to live with, no wonder they grow arms when they evolve.

"Poliiiii!" Damn it!

"Poliwag, try another Bubble, quick!" Poliwag scrambled to his feet quickly and fired again. This time, Hoothoot was hit by two Bubbles, enough to get her health into the red. Perfect. I took out one of the new Pokeballs I had bought earlier and threw it at the Hoothoot. The ball hit her and sucked her right out of the air. The ball fell to the ground and rattled slightly. It wasn't long before it came to rest. Four! That was four Pokemon in one day! I rock!

"Poli, poli, poli!" Poliwag did a victory dance, tap dancing on top of Hoothoot's Pokeball. I chuckled and called him back. I picked up Hoothoot's ball and clipped it to my belt. A less mature person would make a joke about a female Hoothoot having a ball………….but I'm not gonna do that.

* * *

Back at the Pokemon Center, I checked Hoothoot's stats while she and Poliwag were being healed. She had three attacks, more than any of the others. Tackle, Growl and something called 'Foresight'. Never heard of that before. Just as I was getting Hoothoot and Poliwag back, I caught Mark heading outside the door.

"Hey kid, wait!" I thought it'd be a little strange if I called him by name since he wouldn't know how I knew, and then I'd have to explain how I knew, and that'd be getting off the point………much like I am right now, I apologise. Anyway, mark stopped and looked at me.

"You again? What's up?"

"Just wondering. Where exactly is the gym?"

"Near the Pokemart."

"Ohhhh." Well I had been _way_ off course. I said goodbye and headed for the gym. I wasn't sure if it'd be open at this time, but when I saw the lights on inside when I arrived, that proved me wrong. I was hesitant to knock on the door. It was weird. It was like 'hi, you mind if I come on to your property and then proceed to attack you with my team of varied creatures?' 'Oh not at all, please come in, watch that first step though, it's tricky!' Still, you gotta do what you gotta do. I knocked on the door and it swung open by itself.

"Welcome trainer." a disembodied voice said. Since then, I learned the gyms do this to make themselves look cool and there's nothing to it. But at the time? I'll admit it. I was intimidated. So I stepped inside and took a good look around. There was a large pitch in the middle of the room, shaped like a Pokeball. At the far end of the pitch, there was a man dressed in blue and white baggy cloths with a quite frankly very wacky hairstyle. I felt very self conscious in there. All the gym apprentices were staring at me. Could hear the buzz coming from the neon lights.

"I am Falkner." said the an on the far side of the room. "I am the leader of the Violet city gym. Have you come to challenge me?" What, so I was meant to shout the word 'yes' in front of all these people? Maybe the badge wasn't worth it.

"I have." I said at last. He nodded.

"What is your name stranger?"

"Jack Silver."

"This battle will be a two on two fight. Select two of your Pokemon and place them on the pedestal before you. At opposite ends of the pitch, there was a metal pedestal with six grooves, obviously meant to hold the Pokemon one chooses. I saw him take out two Pokeballs and place them on his pedestal. I walked up to my own. Who to use, who to use. I still felt Metapod wouldn't be best suited to a full out battle. Cyndaquil and Poliwag were my highest level Pokemon, but I didn't want to over raise either of them. On the other hand, Hoothoot didn't have much experience. And Poliwag would be fairly tired from his battle earlier. In the end, I decided to go with Hoothoot because she was nocturnal, so she'd be alert and Cyndaquil, because she was the highest level. I placed their Pokeballs on the pedestal. Still no jokes about female Pokemon owning balls.

"Choose you first Pokemon." Falkner called. He picked up one of his own Pokeballs. I decided to save my strongest for last, so I led with Hoothoot.

"Go, Hoothoot!"

"Pidgey, attack!" So there I was, facing down a level 7 Pidgey. I had seen what this guy had down to mark's Natu. I admit I didn't think I'd be walking out of here victorious.

"Hoothoot, Tackle!"

"Pidgey, Gust!" Hoothoot flew straight towards Pidgey, but the other bird flapped its wings and created what looked like a very small tornado. It knocked Hoothoot back before she could use Tackle and slammed into the wall. I had to think fast.

"Hoothoot, Growl!"

"Pidgey, Gust!" This time, Hoothoot stayed where she was, growling at her attack. I remembered how Alyssa's Chikorita had done that to Cyndaquil. Pidgey's Gust hit square on, but the Growl had certainly helped, because she took less damage. Still, now she was just under quarter health, I was really nervous now. And desperate times, call for desperate measures.

"Hoothoot! Foresight!" It was a move I'd never seen before. This could be my salvation.

_"Jack, you're a genius!"_ I thought. Hoothoot stared at Pidgey. Hey eyes flashed red. That was it. _"Jack, you're an idiot!"_

"This round's over! Gust attack!" Pidgey repeated the same move and that was it. Hoothoot fainted.

"Hoothoot is unable to battle!" the referee called. "Pidgey wins this round."

_"Okay, okay, no need to beat me over the head with it!"_ This Pidgey hadn't taken any damage. On the up side, its attack power had been cut slightly. I had no idea how sweaty my hands were until I reached for Cyndaquil's Pokeball. That could really be a problem. Imagine that in a stadium. "And here we have Jack Silver from New Bark Town! He's reaching for his Pokeball, he's gonna throw it and oh! He seems to have dropped it!" Yeah….that would be embarrassing.

"Cyndaquil, go!" The old faithful little mouse appeared on the pitch, lighting the fire on her back to intimidate the Pidgey. I was feeling a little more confident. But that flew right out the window when I noticed Falkner's smirk.

"Cyndaquil, Ember!"

Pidgey, Mud-slap!" Mud-what now? Cyndaquil was faster than Pidgey; her ember attack hit dead on. It did some damage, but Pidgey's health was still in the green. It flapped its wings against the ground and mud appeared out of nowhere and hit Cyndaquil right in the face! I looked at the Pokedex; it said the move was super effective, taking her health down to orange, **and** cutting her accuracy.

_"Oh bugger, bugger, bugger!"_ I saw her scrambling at her face with her paws, trying to get the mud off but it seemed stuck. I had to buy some time.

"Cyndaquil, Smokescreen!"

"Mud-slap again!" Cyndaquil opened her mouth and let a jet of smoke stream out. But with the mud in her face, she couldn't see where she was aiming and missed. The Pidgey's second Mud-slap hit head on and Cyndaquil went flying back. I looked at my Pokedex. She was unconscious. The battle was over.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Jack's Pokemon

(In team)

Cyndaquil

Gender: Female

Lvl: 12

Attacks:

Ember

Leer

Smokescreen

Tackle

Poliwag

Gender: Male

Lvl: 8

Attacks: Bubble

Metapod

Gender: Male

Lvl: 7

Attacks:

Tackle

Stringshot

Harden

Hoothoot

Gender: Female

Lvl: 5

Attacks:

Tackle

Growl

Foresight

(In storage)

N/A


	4. School of Hard Noctowls

A/N: Okay, I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but I've had a chronic case of writer's block. Lame reason but it's true. Anyways, I'll try and keep it going as best I can.

School of Hard Noctowls

"_So, so, so, so STUPID! What the hell was I thinking? This guy, this Falkner. He was a Gym Leader! Someone who trained hard to get to where he is now. How stupid must have been to think I could beat him when I'm still on my first day?"_

If I'm going to be honest, I have to admit at that time, I was seriously thinking of giving up my journey and going home. It was obvious I wasn't cut out to be a trainer. I decided to sleep in the Pokemon Center that night and tomorrow, I would release Hoothoot outside the city gates, take Poliwag and Metapod back to where I found them and release them there, go back to New Bark Town and give Cyndaquil back to Prof Elm. I'm sure these Pokemon could all become great battlers one day but it would certainly be no thanks to me.

As I walked back to the Pokemon Center, I kept playing through different scenarios of releasing the Pokemon. It was not going to be fun. How was I supposed to explain to them that they were not to travel with me anymore? I'm ashamed to admit I seriously was considering just abandoning them. It would have been easier. In my defence, I didn't feel good about the idea. It felt wrong. But….it was just easier…

So there I was. My career as a trainer seemed to be over, my dream of travelling the world would have to stay a dream and my life was pretty much at an all time low. Facing my parents when I returned home. Facing Prof Elm. The very thought made my stomach churn. But I didn't have a choice. You can't do something you aren't good at, right?

I'll stop my internal whining before you guys all get bored and leave………….assuming you haven't already. I was interrupted from my thoughts by a short, podgy man sporting a bushy brown moustache.

"You just came from the Pokemon Gym." he said. Yes, thank you. Go ahead and remind me about the seventh circle of hell……………….I mean Gym…. "Did you win in your battle?" Oh great, now I had to admit to failure in front of a shady stranger. Such fun!

"No actually." I replied. "In fact I barely laid a scratch on the Leader's Pokemon." The man stroked his moustache.

"I know exactly what you need." he said. "Come with me." Okay, this was surprising. I thought child molesters went for people a little younger than me…

"Um….I don't know you…."

"You don't?"

"Um…..Should I?" "_Oh please God, don't let him be well known in this town."_

"I'm surprised. Almost everyone in this town knows me." "_God, you suck!"_

"Oh….well I'm not from around here…"

"I see. Well my name is Earl." Earl…..I'd heard that name earlier in the Pokemon Center… "I run the Pokemon Academy not far from here. You ought to come along. I am sure there are things I could teach you to aid in your rematch against Falkner."

"My….rematch?" This dude thought I wanted to go in there and get kicked in places best not mentioned again? Earl looked confused.

"What was your intention?" I could feel my face going bright red. Somehow I just knew he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

"Um…Well actually….I was….kinda thinking I might…..give up?" As predicted he gasped in shock.

"You lose one battle and you decide to throw in the towel? What kind of a trainer are you?"

"Not a very good one apparently…." Earl took out a handkerchief and mopped his brow.

"Oh no, no, no." he muttered, almost to himself. "This is unacceptable. It simply will not do!" Don't _I_ get a say in this…

"Look, Mr…..Earl……I'm sorry, but I have to be going." I made to leave, but he grabbed my arm.

"Oh no you don't m'boy!" he replied, almost harshly. "You are coming to my academy!" What, no dinner and a movie first? "I can teach things about Pokemon you haven't even imagined! I can help you defeat Falkner and earn back your dignity!" Dignity? Sheesh, it wasn't like the guy insulted my mother or something…

"Look, I-"

"I insist!"

"But-"

"I will make you a deal."

"I'm listening…"

"Come to my academy tomorrow. It's near the Pokemon Center. Allow me to teach that which I believe will help you claim victory. Then try again to battle Falkner. If that time you lose, you may walk away from life as trainer and you shall hear no more from me. I promise."

"I…..I don't know…"

"Please, just give my teaching a chance. It always breaks my heart to see a trainer walk away from his potential."

"I…………………….alright." I know……I'm weak-willed. Still, Earl's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Splendid! I will see you at the academy nine o'clock tomorrow. What was your name?"

"Uh… Jack Silver."

"Splendid! Splendid!" he walked off into the night, repeating that word over and over. God you get some weird people here in Violet City…

* * *

Next morning was cold and misty. My Pokemon were being healed and I was sitting in the cafeteria, eating breakfast, thinking more about this strange man Earl. I had two choices. I could go back to New Bark town without seeing him and let that be that. It'd be the easier thing to do after all. 

On the other hand….maybe he _did_ have things to offer which would help. Maybe….just maybe….I could make it as a trainer after all. And besides, even if it didn't work out, I could still go home. I wasn't in any _rush_ to let my parents know about my failures.

By the time one of the nurses came up to me with my Pokemon, I had made my choice. I stood up and looked her in the face.

"Where's the Pokemon Academy?"

* * *

Okay, so in retrospect, perhaps saying 'thank you for healing my Pokemon' before demanding to know where the academy was would have been less likely to earn me a very loud lecture, right in the middle of the cafeteria by the way, about how youngsters these days ought to respect their elders. 

But regardless, I soon found myself standing at the doorway of the Pokemon Academy. I swallowed hard and finally my courage peaked. I knocked on the door as quietly as possible and after deciding that two seconds of silence was clear indication that no-one was in, I turned away and began to leave.

Unfortunately, the door opened before I could take five steps.

"Ah! You've arrived!" Earl's voice rang out in the cold morning air. Clenching my teeth hard for a moment, I turned around to face him. "Well come in, let's get out of this dreadful morning atmosphere!" Hey! I _like_ morning atmosphere! Anyway, he ushered me in, through a small hallway and led me into what looked like a classroom. There was no one else around, but I could hear the sounds of students in other rooms. He went to the teacher's desk and took a sheet of paper out of the drawer.

"Now then." he said. "What Pokemon do you have?"

"A Cyndaquil, a Metapod, a Poliwag and a Hoothoot." I replied. He stroked his moustache in thought. Then he handed the paper to me.

"This chart shows all the advantages and disadvantages each Pokemon element has over others." he said. "How much do you know about elements?" I hesitated.

"…Elements?" He gave me an incredulous look.

"Oh you just don't understand."

"There're a lot of things I don't understand." _"And they're all women." _He sighed and continued.

"All Pokemon belong to one or two different elements. There are seventeen different elements in existence. For example, your Cyndaquil is a fire type. Its fire type moves would be strong against your Metapod, it being a bug type, while weak against your Poliwag as it's a water type."

He went on and on. I'll spare you the boring details, as I'm sure you're more experienced that me…..you lucky bastard…. But his advice was interesting. He finished with some advice on how to beat Falkner.

"Now, Falkner trains flying type Pokemon, so your Metapod will not be a good choice for battling. You say his Pidgey knows Mud Slap, which also means your Cyndaquil is not the best choice of Pokemon here. However, your Hoothoot is immune to ground type attacks."

That sounded good…

"But of course, Falkner knows everything about flying types, which makes things trickier."

That did _not_ sound good…

"What you really need is an electric type, an ice type or a rock type."

"Well where am I gonna find any of these?"

"You'd be hard pressed to find any ice or electric types around here, I'm afraid. However, I do know that you can find Geodudes in a cave just outside the city. But I must warn you. Rock types are also weak against ground moves. My recommendation is you catch a Geodude, train your Pokemon some more, and use both Geodude and Poliwag in your rematch." I nodded. Wasn't much else I could do… "I recommend training your other Pokemon at the Sprout tower. They mainly use Bellsprouts there, it's a good place to train, fire, flying and bug types. Remember: keep your Pokemon equal in level."

"Okay, I….guess I'll give it a try." He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Trust me. Follow my advice, and keep an eye on that element chart. You can keep it by the way."

"Really? Thanks!" _"Greeeeaaaat, now I have a piece of paper I can wrap fish dinners in."_

I left the academy, returning to that 'dreadful morning atmosphere' and checked my map for the nearby cave. I located it and headed in what I hoped was the right direction.

After I passed through the city gates, I was feeling a little more positive. I didn't really think this idea of Earl's would work, but I was glad to have a reason to delay releasing my Pokemon.

* * *

Once outside the city, I spotted the cave a little way off. Heading towards it, I checked the type chart Earl gave me to see which of my Pokemon would work best against a Geodude. It said water was good against rock, so I decided on Poliwag. The only problem was the fact that it was so dark inside. I couldn't see anything further than five metres from the entrance. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I couldn't go in if I couldn't see anything! Suddenly a voice came from behind me. 

"Having fun?" I jumped violently and hit my head on the top of the cave's entrance. Man was that painful… As I lay on the ground, clutching my head, the voice spoke again. "Whoa, you okay?" _"Oh yeah, everything's great, I **like** looking at all the pretty stars spinning around my head!"_

The stranger helped me to my feet and as I opened my eyes, I saw that it was none other than-

"Alyssa!" I said. She grinned.

"Miss me?"

"Oh yeah, I missed the headaches." I replied, rubbing my head a little. She laughed sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Didn't think you'd be so jumpy." Have I said what a lovely girl she is? I don't think I have.

"Forget about it." I said. "So….how goes it for you? Caught anything new?"

"Oh yeah! I got a Beedrill and a Growlithe. How about you?"

"I got a Metapod, a Poliwag and a Hoothoot. Guess we've got even teams now." She chuckled. I get nervous when girls chuckle.

"Not quite even. I've got a stage two Pokemon. Best you have is a stage one." I swear she was confusing me on purpose!

"A stage…..two Pokemon?" I asked helplessly. She rolled her eyes.

"A stage one Pokemon is a Pokemon that's evolved once. Like your Metapod. A stage two Pokemon is one that's evolved twice, like my Beedrill."

"Huh….so a stage three Pokemon would be-"

"There's no such thing as a stage three Pokemon." she cut in.

"Oh…so what do you call a Pokemon that hasn't evolved, or can't evolve?"

"A basic Pokemon."

"Gotcha…" She chuckled again. I got nervous again.

"Aw, poor Jack. Too easily confused, aren'tcha?" I smiled in spite of myself.

"Guess I'll just have to learn."

"Guess so. Anyway, how about a rematch? I want to get some of my money back." I sighed. I wasn't really in the mood for battle.

"I would…but I'm trying to find a Geodude to use in my Gym battle with Falkner." She looked at the cave.

"You'll never find one without Flash."

"Without what now?"

"Flash. It's a special move you can teach to Pokemon with an HM. I got it. Taught it to Growlithe. You can use it to light up a dark area."

"Oh…well….you think you could help me look for a Geodude then?" She shook her head.

"No good. Can't use an HM move outside of battle with Falkner's Gym badge, and I don't have it yet."

"So….I need to beat Falkner so I can use Flash to get into this cave to find a Geodude to beat Falkner with…" She laughed again.

"Or, I could use my Chikorita's new Sweet Scent to draw a Geodude out." Sweet Scent…….who's coming up with these attack names?

"Really?"

"Sure."

"…..Could you do it right now?"

"Tell you what. You battle me, and I'll lure out a Geodude for ya." Maaaaaan, I really didn't want to battle!

"But…"

"Do you really want to tire your Pokemon out against Geodude and _then_ fight me?"

"I…..no…." She grinned and took a Pokeball from her belt.

"Okay then. Four on four. We each change Pokemon after every round. Whoever wins the most rounds, is the winner." I sighed and nodded.

"If you say so…" Since he was the weakest, I decided to start with Metapod. I took the ball form my belt and looked at Alyssa. She nodded.

"Okay, let's go!" We both released our Pokemon at the same time. She had released Chikorita. I quickly checked my type chart. _"Bug types are strong against grass types! Rock ON!"_ Things were looking up!

"Metapod, Tackle!"

"Chikorita, Growl!" Chikorita was too quick. She growled at Metapod menacingly, making him tremble slightly. Poor dude didn't seem to have much confidence. He sprang forward and hit her, but it didn't do a lot of damage.

"Chikorita, Razor Leaf!" _"What the fu-"_ Chikorita span the leaf on her head, somehow sending out a barrage of leaves, heading straight for Metapod!

"Metapod, Harden!" Even as Metapod began to glow, Alyssa laughed.

"Won't do any good!" I cursed under my breath. The leaves struck Metapod hard. My Pokedex claimed it wasn't very effective, but the attack had done a fair amount of damage!

"Hang in there Metapod!" I called. Then I noticed something. "Wait!" I called to Alyssa. I ran over to Metapod and picked him up.

"What're you doing?" Alyssa asked. "You can't interfere in the middle of a battle like that!"

"I think Metapod's hurt!" There was a gash in his side, I could see his eyes screwed up in pain. _"Dammit! I knew I should have released him! This wouldn't have happened if I had!"_ Alyssa ran over and took a look. Then she side in relief. I looked at her in surprise.

"That's nothing to worry about." she said. _"Nothing to worry about?? How about I shove that worry up your-"_ "A cocoon Pokemon's shell would never break that easily unless it was almost ready to evolve."

"Evolve?" I echoed. This was…interesting.

"Yeah, when worm Pokemon become cocoon Pokemon, they're still evolving on the inside, changing into their stage two level. Once they're almost ready, the cocoon gets softer so it can break out. That's exactly what happened when my Kakuna turned into Beedrill."

"Oh…" I looked at Metapod. Through the gash I could almost see something. Something…white. This could be the answer. I don't want to be unkind, but Metapod hadn't been much of a battler. Neither had Caterpie come to that. But surely its final form would be more powerful, right? Maybe then it'd be more confident.

"It's not gonna evolve in the next ten minutes though, so you might as well call it back to the Pokeball." I looked back at her.

"Why? I think he's still able to battle."

"Meta…Metapod!" Metapod chimed in agreement. At least I _think_ it was agreement… But Alyssa shook her head.

"Doesn't matter. By picking him up, you interfered, disqualifying him from the battle." That didn't seem very fair! I was worried!

"But I-"

"Rules are rules." she shrugged. _"Oh well…"_ I called Metapod back into his Pokeball, Alyssa doing the same with Chikorita. Well, the upside was at least now I could send Poliwag in without fear of element disadvantage. Still….the score was one to zero.

"Go, Poliwag!" I sent Poliwag out and at the same time, Alyssa sent out her Beedrill. Shame. I had been hoping she would pick Growlithe. According to my Pokedex, Beedrill was female.

"Beedrill, Fury Attack!"

"Poliwag, Bubble!" Beedrill flew right up to Poliwag and started jabbing him with her needles. Luckily, Poliwag was able to hit her with his bubbles at point blank range, which forced her back a bit. Poliwag had taken a little damage, but not as much as Beedrill. _"I might have a chance!"_

"Beedrill, try Fury Attack again!"

"Poliwag, use-" Before I could even finish, Beedrill had reached Poliwag and this time was doing a lot more damage! Poliwag tried to use Bubble, but it was no use. Beedrill pounded her right stinger into Poliwag, sending him flying back against a rock. He was out cold. Alyssa jumped up and down in excitement.

"Great job Beedrill! That's two rounds to us!" I called Poliwag back with slightly less enthusiasm. There went the Pokemon I was planning to use on Geodude. Now I'd have to go back to the Pokemon Centre!

"I can still end this in a draw!" I proclaimed. "Y'know….maybe…" Alyssa laughed and picked her next Pokeball. I quickly though of who she had left. Her Spearow and her Growlithe. I had my Hoothoot and my Cyndaquil. We each had a flying type and a fire type. I wasn't sure about this. Hoothoot hadn't actually won any battles yet. Of course, neither had Poliwag, but he did seem to be stronger… Deciding to save the strongest for last, I sent out Hoothoot. At the same time, Alyssa sent out Spearow, so it looked like we would be matching types. According to the Pokedex, Spearow was a male.

"Okay Spearow, Peck!"

"Hoothoot, Tackle!" The two birds flew up into the air and rammed each other head on.

"Spearow, use Leer!" Spearow glared at Hoothoot, who seemed taken aback. I was too. "Okay, now Peck again!" Before either of us were ready, Spearow rammed Hoothoot again, knocking her back into a tree. She was out cold. I called her back to her Pokeball before she hit the ground.

"Nevermind Hoothoot. Maybe next time." I called to her. Alyssa laughed again.

"That's three to me. Looks like its over."

"Looks like." I muttered.

"Wanna have the last fight anyway?"

"No thanks. I need to have _someone _conscious to fight that Geodude with." I didn't want to sound rude, but I was starting to really get discouraged now…

"Aw come on, your Cyndaquil won't do much good against a Geodude anyway. You're gonna have to go to the Pokemon Centre, so why not battle first?" _"Walk away Jack, walk away Jack, walk away Jack."_

"Oh alright." _"Jack you suck!"_ Alyssa sent out her Growlithe, which was a male, and I sent out Cyndaquil. According to the type chart, fire was bad against fire, so I decided not to use Ember.

"Cyndaquil, Tackle!"

"Growlithe, Bite!" Cyndaquil charged at Growlithe, but just as she reached him, he open his jaws and bit down hard on her snout! Worse, he wasn't letting go! "Yeah, nice work Growlithe!" Well I wasn't beaten yet. I had a plan…

"Cyndaquil, Smokescreen!" Cyndaquil blew smoke directly into Growlithe mouth. He instantly let go and started coughing violently. _"Shouldn't have got so close"_ Okay Cyndaquil, now Tackle it!" She charged toward him and rammed in hard as she could.

"Growlithe, use Roar!" Alyssa commanded. Growlithe tried, but it collapsed into another coughing fit.

"Now's our chance Cyndaquil!" I yelled. "Tackle it again!" She ran straight for him and hit him hard. It was too much for him. He finally collapsed. This was the first time I'd won since I beat that kid with the Rattata! Go me!

"Not bad." Alyssa said, calling Growlithe back. "Still, that's three to one, so I guess victory is mine." Lovely girl, just…lovely. I handed some money over.

"Okay, so if I just go to the Pokemon Centre, will you help me get a Geodude?" I asked.

"Sure." she replied. "We may as well both go, I need to get Growlithe healed." So, off we went. But before we got far, I heard a rustling in the bushes.

"Hey, you hear that?" I asked. Alyssa looked at me.

"Hear what?" I crept over to the bushes, beckoning Cyndaquil over to me.

"I hear something, it may be a Pokemon."

"Well if you're hoping that it's a Geodude, I think you're gonna be disappointed. They don't leave the cave naturally." I didn't care. I parted the bushes and next thing I knew, something leapt on my face, causing me to topple back!

"Beeeeeelllllsprout!" the thing said. Alyssa laughed.

"Dude, you just got tackled by a Bellsprout!" My head snapped up. _"A Bellsprout? Maybe I can catch it!" _After all, it'd be nice to be one up on Alyssa.

"Cyndaquil, go!" Alyssa laughed again.

"A grass type like Bellsprout won't help you against Falkner." I smirked.

"Maybe not, but it doesn't hurt to have a nice big team, Cyndaquil! Ember!" Cyndaquil nodded and the ever cool flames sprouted from her back. She spat out a small fireball which hit Bellsprout full force! The Pokedex showed its health was in the red, so I took out a spare Pokeball and threw it. The ball sucked Bellsprout in and clamped shut. Bellsprout had been so badly burned, the ball barely struggled at all. It came to a stop. I had my fifth Pokemon!

"Not bad." Alyssa said. "But a Bellsprout isn't really that amazing. Even my Chikorita could beat it." Y'know, they say to go for a girl with confidence, but I was starting to doubt that rule…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Jack's Pokemon

(In team)

Cyndaquil

Gender: Female

Poliwag

Gender: Male

Metapod

Gender: Male

Hoothoot

Gender: Female

Bellsprout

Gender: Female

N/A

_Okay, for those who haven't left already, I just want to say I know this is based on the Pokemon Crystal game, but I may not follow the plot as religiously as I should, just to make it a little more interesting. The first real change I'm making is the case of the Mystery egg. Now I'm not very fond of Togepi, so I'm not gonna have the egg hatch into one. But at the same time, I don't want Jack to just store the egg in the PC and forget about it. _

_So here's what I'm gonna do. It'll hatch, but it'll be a different Pokemon. Only thing is, I don't want it to look like I'm changing the plot just to get a specific Pokemon, so I'd like anyone who actually gives a damn about this fic to nominate Pokemon they'd like to see the egg hatch into. Just name what Pokemon you'd like to see in a review and I'll pick the one I like the most. Now, it can be almost any Pokemon you want, but there are a few Pokemon I will not consider._

_No starter Pokemon. Yes, they are very cool, but I don't want Jack getting any extra special Pokemon in his team._

_No legendary Pokemon. For the same reason. Because come on, it's gonna look lame if he has a Poliwag, a Cyndaquil, a Metapod, a Hoothoot, and Bellsprout and then suddenly a Groudon. This includes other one-of-a-kind-but-not-exactly-legendary-Pokemon like Mewtwo._

_No Eevees. I've got nothing against this particular Pokemon, but I've seen it be used in a large number of different fanfics. I think we need to give it a break._

_Try not to choose one that features largely in the series. I know most of Jack's Pokemon are ones that people in the series have used, and I plan to give him more like that, but I would like to use at least a few that don't get much screen time._

_No shinies. _

_Nothing that can't hatch from an egg in the game, like Magnemite._

_No 4th generation Pokemon, in other words: Ones that can only be caught in Diamond and Pearl. This is simply because I don't know enough about the series yet._

_So that's it. It can even be one that doesn't appear in Johto, maybe a Kanto Pokemon, or even a Hoenn one. Like I said, I'll pick my favourite(I won't say what I've picked, you'll have to wait til it hatches) and if yours doesn't get picked, it's either because I haven't trained one in a game and therefore don't think I could do it much justice, or I plan to have Jack catch one later on. Hope people make suggestions, cuz I'm gonna look like an idiot if no one does…_


End file.
